Life as a Secret Changeling Prince

James came into the General’s office, not knowing what to expect from him. Was it an emergency that he missed and now he was being kicked out, or was it as small as the General wondering how to say a word in Thaydonese.

It didn’t help when Lily hopped off his back and screeched, “Abuelo!” Running towards her grandfather, who had a conflicted look on his face.

He sat down in front of him, saying, “did something bad happen? You don’t look too well.” The General seemed hesitant as he slid a piece of paper in front of him, James could see that it was in Thaydonese (thank the Gods he learned the language).

‘To the Equestrians,

I advice that your military surrender peacefully, as my army has liberated all the villages of Vietrot from the pathetic reign of Femina. They’ve even sworn loyalty to my side, vowing to kill any Equestrian who crosses our path. You cannot defeat us, there is no chance, I will never let you win.

You Equestrians treat our proud species as a plaything, then you toss us to the side once you get bored of us. I won’t ever subject my subjects to the same treatment, you should be disgusted with yourselves for how you see us.

The rest of this letter is dedicated to my future subjects, so please make sure this reaches them.

Read and understand citizens of Flygon, your city will fall and all of you will be left behind by the Equestrians. The ones who claim they’ll bring you to Equestria are lying, no creature could ever love a Changeling in their real form. You must not be manipulated by their pretty lies, you deserve to be in the society I am creating and spreading around our territory.

Think of it, males and females are treated as equals. Nymphs of all genders are allowed to go to school and serve their community, no one is discriminated against for the things that even we Changelings cannot change.

No longer will your sons be forced to work in prostitution at young ages, selling themselves to foreign creatures on the street for money. They’ll instead be seen as equal to females, as they should’ve been since the day they were born.

That can all happen in an instant, but only if you swear loyalty to my side, and I’ll protect you all. The Equestrians don’t care enough to shield you away from the war, they’re the ones who are bringing the war to you by not surrendering.

And my dearest subjects, remember this, they’ve destroyed our homes before, who’s to say they won’t do it again?

Sincerely,
Your Future Queen, Bian Thi Le’

James gritted his teeth as he read it over and over again, how could she be so confident? She used her actual birth name as if to show just how comfortable she was with this... declaration of hers.

“How dare she...” James growled, his horn sparking a bit in rage.

The General sighed and mumbled, “I was worried this would happen, the villagers have turned against us. Whether it was out of fear or choice, they must be considered our enemies now too.”

“Those traitorous bastards!” The Changelings shouted slamming his hoof down on the desk, “we offered them protection! A home here in Flygon and what do they do instead?! Side with the Devil’s Mistress because they’re all too cowardly to fight for themselves!”

Lily whimpered in fear as she watched her crush rant angrily, but felt better once her grandfather affectionately stroked her mane. “James please, calm down. Besides, I’m positive I know the exact reason why they sided with her instead of us,” General Fig said as he helped Lily into his lap, who seemed to be interested in the sweets that were kept in a small glass jar on the table.

“The reason being?” James grumbled, crossing his arms in annoyance.

“She must have promised to protect their land, or at the very least they don’t have to leave it to be on her side,” General Fig explained with a solemn expression.

James then remembered what he was told by Silverfish, ’we would rather die on our land than abandon it.’

Looks like they weren’t kidding, Gods why did they have to be so attached to it! Perhaps if James had set up a ‘sign’ from the God Brucus, telling them to leave, they would’ve left their land.

But then again, James didn’t feel like facing the possibility of being cursed by the Gods. So not doing that was probably the best thing he could’ve done, no harm done there.

“But every village,” James said in disbelief, looking back at the letter, “how in the hell could she have done that?”

General Fig answered, “do I need to remind you how large her army is? Especially now that she’s recruited all of them.”

“No need to, sir...” James mumbled, thinking back to when they first came to Vietrot.

They weren’t welcomed here in the first place, that was obvious as soon as he found out they lied about not knowing Equinish, they were scared of the Equestrians. He had believed that him being part of their military would help out with that, which was proven wrong on multiple occasions.

General Fig grabbed the jar of candy, opening it before handing it to Lily, who squealed in happiness.” He smiled softly at his granddaughter, saying, “we can only pray that we win this war, for our families and even our friends.”

“We don’t even pray to the same Gods,” James said as he rolled his eyes, though still silently made a note to offer something to the God Laurus.

Looks like he was burning laurel leaves for the next few hours, sounds fun...

“That doesn’t matter, James,” General Fig lightly scolded, “that gives us hope to finish this war without too much tragedy.”

The Corporal didn’t know how to respond, he genuinely didn’t have much hope for their side. He was very well aware that Flygon was going to fall, it was going to be destroyed and there was a chance that he was going to be left behind as well.

Not many of the soldiers were fond enough of him to bring him along. The Changelings that were left behind were going to be one of two things, shot on sight or forcibly recruited into Chrysalis’s army.

What she was promising was far too good to be true, there was no way it would be that easy. Which reminded him, “are we going to send that letter to Flygon, or will this stay quiet, sir?”

“I haven’t decided yet, it might be worse to not share it and have them find out there was a warning,” General Fig said, looking back down at the letter.

James sighed and muttered, “alright sir, I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone.” Then he left the room, hearing Lily shout, “bye bye, James!”

He had a lot on his mind now, what was he supposed to do?

The letter from Chrysalis was engraved in his mind, as if he memorized every single word. The worst part was, he felt a flicker of hope in his heart when he first read it! That there was a possibility that she cared about what happened to them, that she wanted them to be happier under her rule instead of being miserable and working on the streets.

It scared him.

Gods forbid any other Changeling got ahold of that message, the war would be lost in an instant as soon as the word spread...